Once again, a Tulane Law School faculty member has made headlines, catching the attention of journalists and editors, senior academics, legal correspondents, and—in particular this time—librarians. Wednesday, Sept. 8, Law Librarian Blog posted “Law Prof as Independent Law Book Publisher: An Interview with Alan Childress, Founder of Quid Pro Books.” The article was one of a two-part series featuring Childress, Conrad Meyer III Professor of Civil Procedure at Tulane Law School, and his recently formed publishing house, Quid Pro Books.

Joe Hodnicki, County Law Library Director, Butler County Law Library (OH), accurately described Quid Pro Books as “a new venture that publishes e-Books of original manuscripts in law and law-and-society, in addition to classics, for worldwide distribution.” A perfect example of this latest innovative contribution to scholarship by a Tulane law professor is Childress’s annotated version of Holmes’s The Common Law, which Quid Pro Books published in eight digital formats. Hodnicki specifically notes that the publishing house also offers “p-Book” editions (also known as paperbacks or hardcover books).

Following part I of the Librarian Blog interview, Law.com on Thursday picked up the story with their article entitled, “Law Professor Forms Independent Publishing House,” which likewise highlighted Professor Childress’s project on The Common Law. The legal news network quoted Childress as saying he “decoded” and cleaned up The Common Law, “correcting serious defects in the digital versions that were previously available.” Childress, who maintains that “E-books are not going to replace print books anytime soon,” also has worked to improve problems he noticed with other e-books, such as unlinked footnotes and phantom page references.

Since its launch, Quid Pro Books has published a total of 19 books. Recent authors include philosopher Susan Neiman at the Einstein Forum in Germany, historian Jerold Auerbach of Wellesley, and Andrew Kaufman at Harvard Law School.

Read the Law Librarian article, recommended by Law.com as “a very interesting interview,” in its entirety. Part 1 | Part 2